Welcome to the board bbell,
I too will have to vote for the older contender frame for lighter loads. I have a contender pistol in .17 HMR and it is one of the most accurate guns of any kind I have ever owned. I also have .22 LR barrel in 14 inch. It is deadly out to 100 and slightly beyond with the HMR. I also have an Encore in a 15 inch 7-08 barrel and it is quite accurate as well. I have several rifle barrels for the Encore as well up to .300 Win Mag. I suppose rule of thumb is if you want rimfire and smaller center fire rounds like .223, .204 ect. go with the Contender, if it is for larger rounds go with the Encore, best case get both frames and enjoy! Nothing beats the T/C frames unless you step into the AR's, but that's another story entirely. I guess you could say that I have been bitten with multiple diseases.
